Dessert

Melted witches, worms and magical hats were all a part of Halloween this year. No, they aren’t the latest costumes, just tasty creations for a potluck at work. For people who know me I’m all about trying new recipes. So when I scoured the Pinterest boards for fun and creative ideas, these certainly caught my eye.

Melted Witch Brownies

Brownie Recipe: You can either make your favorite box mix or try these scrumptious homemade ones! I doubled the batch to make them super thick!

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used dark chocolate)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper and pour in the batter. Bake for 40 minutes. Since I doubled the recipe I used a 9×13 pan and baked for 50 minutes. Cool completely in the fridge to allow them to set for easy cutting. Pull out the entire parchment paper and then cut into squares.

Start by cleaning out the filling from the sandwich cookies reserving just the cookie part for the witch’s hat. Then make orange icing and put into a decorating bag and make a circle to set the chocolate kiss into. Then mix green food coloring into some more icing and microwave it for about 15 seconds just to melt it slightly. Drop it over the top of the brownie square and then place a witch hat on top. You’re all set!

Witch Hat Cookies

These cookies were super easy to make!

1 box devils food cake mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 cup vanilla frosting

food coloring – orange and green

Chocolate kisses

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix cake mix, oil and eggs until soft dough forms. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes on sheets and then remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.

Tint frosting with desired food colors. Place into decorating bags and pipe a circle onto the top of the cookie and then place a chocolate kiss in the center.

Dirt Pudding

We grew up on this fabulous treat! While I found several variations that included several ingredients, I kept true to the way I remembered it best with simple ingredients.

3 large boxes of instant chocolate pudding

6 cups of milk

1 8-ounce cool whip

chocolate sandwich cookies

gummy worms

green food coloring (optional)

In a large bowl mix the pudding and mix and stir with a whirl wisk until it starts to thicken and then refrigerate. Meanwhile, remove the cream fillings from the chocolate sandwich cookies. Using a food processor grind the cookies until they resemble the consistency of dirt.

In a trifle bowl, layer the pudding and cookies (dirt) until you fill the bowl. You can also add worms in the layers!

For something different this time, I used green food coloring to tint the cool whip to look like grass for my top layer. Then I added some extra dirt piles and worms coming out of them.

I’ve always hemmed and hawed over how beautiful a trifle dessert looks. The perfect layers of cake, cream and yummy fillings is so inviting. I’ve never tried one of these perfect crafted desserts until this Christmas when I finally got my very own trifle bowl and whipped up this tasty – an lower calories – Berry Trifle. You’ll love it!

Berry Trifle

2 cups non-fat cottage cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup non-fat sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

1 cup whipped cream

1 Angel Food cake, cut into 1-inch cubes (I made my own)

1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced

1 quart fresh raspberries

1 quart fresh blackberries

Place cottage cheese in food processor and process until smooth. Add powdered sugar, sour cream, vanilla and almond extracts and process until mixed well. Fold whipped cream into cottage cheese mixture. Place a layer of strawberries, blackberries and raspberries in the bottom of a trifle bowl. Top with a layer of cream and then cake pieces. Add another layer of berries, then another layer of cream and cake mixture. End with a layer of berries.